


caught by your waves and drawn to your side

by ukulelefoot



Category: Holby City
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Hair Kink, Like, Ridiculously fluffy, five times fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-27
Updated: 2018-07-07
Packaged: 2019-05-29 14:27:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15075092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ukulelefoot/pseuds/ukulelefoot
Summary: Five Times Serena stroked Bernie's hair.





	1. after kiev

**Author's Note:**

> This is for Jaymie + Stine bc we lost our shit over the hair stroking and one of them suggested a five times fic so here it is. It's my new kink and I am unashamed.
> 
> (also thank u Jaymie for the title, noice)

Serena watches in wonder as Bernie slowly comes back to earth from wherever she’d just sent her. Smiling eyes open and Serena thinks she’s never been quite so deeply in love as she is right now. There’s still talking to do; she’s under no illusions that it’s going to be plain sailing, but that can all wait. For now, she’s just going to lose herself in Bernie’s sparkling eyes.

One of Bernie’s hands leaves its new home on Serena’s waist and comes up to guide her head down so their foreheads are touching, eyes closed again. They breathe each other in for a minute, still in the quiet of Serena’s bedroom, in the soft glow of the bedside lamp.

She hears Bernie sniff, but before she can pull back to see if she’s ok, Bernie leans up and kisses her. It’s the tenderest kiss they’ve shared so far, the tenderest kiss Serena’s ever received, her heart aching with the perfection of it all. She shifts to one side, their lips still locked together, so that she’s more comfortable, and slips a leg between Bernie’s.

Her hand comes up to touch Bernie’s cheek, her fingertips brushing the soft hair by Bernie’s ear as she presses one last kiss to Bernie’s lips before pulling away a fraction.

They rest with their foreheads together for a while, Serena idly playing with Bernie’s hair, until Serena realises that Bernie is shaking.

“Cold?”

Her teasing question goes unanswered except for Bernie pulling her closer and burying her face in Serena’s neck. Serena feels damp against her skin and immediately panics. The only thing that stops her from completely freaking out is the fact that Bernie is practically clinging onto her instead of running away.

“Bernie,” she soothes, stroking the blonde waves and pressing a kiss to the top of her head. After a minute, Serena leans back and holds Bernie just far enough away so she’s in focus. She gives Bernie time, waits for her to calm down a little, then asks what’s wrong.

“Nothing!” Bernie croaks, her eyes wide as she frantically shakes her head. “I just…”

Her face crumples again, making Serena’s chest hurt, and she chokes out a sob as her hand moves to cup Serena’s cheek. She takes a deep, shaky breath, closes her eyes momentarily as she holds it, then opens them again. They’re swimming with tears, but they’re determined. Serena has no idea what’s going to come out of her mouth.

“I love you,” Bernie whispers, her eyes soft, yet scared. “I love you so much.”

Serena almost faints - with relief or joy, she’s not sure - and surges forward to kiss Bernie, her hand clasped in Bernie’s hair to anchor them together.

Between kisses and through tears, “I love you too,” is pressed against Bernie’s lips.


	2. new year's eve

It’s nearly 2am by the time they stumble through the front door and Serena is decidedly tipsy. Bernie had seen it coming and had therefore held back a little so she could get them back from AAU’s New Year’s party in one piece.

“Bernieeeee,” Serena whines as they make their way through to the kitchen, Bernie sitting her down on a chair then going to fetch a glass of water and a packet of paracetamol. She ignores Serena’s childlike calls for attention. This only makes Serena ramp it up a notch.

“Bernie, I love you,”

A beaming grin flashes across Bernie’s face before she schools her features into a soft smile and beckons Serena to follow her upstairs with a gentle ‘come on’.

Once they’re changed and ready for bed - or once Bernie’s got them both changed and ready for bed and Serena’s been largely unhelpful in the endeavour - Bernie perches on what is now her side of the bed and sips at her glass of water. As soon as she puts it down, Serena’s in front of her and climbing onto her lap, straddling her, and enveloping her in a bear hug.

“You’re incorrigible,” Bernie murmurs against her neck, her hands coming to join together around Serena’s waist.

Serena pulls back with a cheeky grin and drops a kiss to Bernie’s lips, her hands finding their way to the base of Bernie’s skull and playing with the strands of hair they find, making Bernie hum with pleasure.

“Did you really have to teach me the Macarena?” Bernie grumbles affectionately. “I can’t see that coming in handy and I’ve got limited space for unnecessary information like that nowadays.”

“The Macarena isn’t unnecessary information, Bernie!” Serena baulks, her fingers stopping suddenly in Bernie’s hair. “It’s a way of life.”

She’s so serious and adamant that Bernie can’t help the fond ‘I love you’ that escapes. Serena grins, leans forward with a sloppy kiss and drags her nails over Bernie’s scalp.

When they separate, Bernie is horrified to see tears in Serena’s eyes and feels her face contort into a concerned frown as she subconsciously rubs her hand across Serena’s lower back.

“I wish Ellie wasn’t being so difficult,” she says quietly.

She looks so insecure and small and… young that Bernie feels her heart break a little and presses a kiss to Serena’s collarbone.

“She’ll come round,” she says, pulling back to catch Serena’s eye. “Look at Charlotte,”

A few months ago, Bernie would have scoffed at the idea that Charlotte would even be talking to her again, let alone spend Christmas with her and her new partner.

Serena sniffs, pulls a hand out of Bernie’s hair to wipe at her eyes before returning it.

“Charlotte isn’t stubborn as a mule,” she murmurs.

“And I wonder where Elinor gets that from,” Bernie says, her eyes narrowed with affection, and Serena laughs.

Bernie reaches up to kiss Serena gently, then she pats Serena’s hip twice and encourages her off her lap. She lifts up the covers to let Serena settle underneath them, then joins her.

Serena immediately snuggles into her side and one hand finds its way back into Bernie’s hair.

“What is your fixation with my hair?” Bernie mumbles through a smile. She kisses Serena’s hair and breathes her in.

“You have nice hair,” Serena says simply, her hand motionless against Bernie’s head.

Bernie pulls her close, squeezes her tight for a moment.

“It’s all going to be ok, Serena.”


	3. in france

It’s pollen season in the south of France and Bernie is suffering.

After enduring five minutes of her sneezing, Serena sidles up to where her exhausted-looking partner is sat on the sofa and hands her a packet of hayfever tablets along with a glass of water. Bernie takes one with a sheepish smile and Serena plonks herself on the other end of the sofa, her feet curled up underneath her.

Bernie sneezes again and flops frustratedly along the length of the sofa so that her feet are hanging over the arm and her head is resting on Serena’s thighs.

“Oh darling!” Serena coos, running her hand through Bernie’s hair and passing her a tissue from the box on the coffee table so she can blow her nose.

“I bet you’re so attracted to me right now,” Bernie jokes, rubbing at an itchy eye before glancing up at Serena and pursing her mouth to suppress a grin.

“You’re beautiful,” Serena says, more reverently than she’d intended.

Bernie huffs out a laugh, which makes her cough. Serena chuckles and sweeps Bernie’s fringe away from her eyes.

“You’re beautiful even when your eyes are puffy…” She strokes one of Bernie’s eyebrows with the forefinger of the hand not lodged firmly in Bernie’s hair. “...and your nose is as red as a clown’s.” The finger trails down over the bridge of Bernie’s nose and taps the tip when it gets there.

“I’ll take your word for it,” Bernie murmurs, her eyes drooping a little.

Serena sighs and rests her hand over Bernie’s middle, her fingers resting in the dip of her waist.

They sit in silence for a bit, Serena’s fingers absentmindedly running through Bernie’s hair every now and then while she looks out across the French countryside.

Bernie sniffs again and Serena’s heart suddenly constricts, her hand stilling abruptly in Bernie’s hair.

“You alright?” Bernie murmurs, one of her hands coming up to hold the arm across her stomach.

Serena takes a deep breath before she speaks, and wills herself not to cry.

“Ellie,” she starts. Bernie immediately clasps her fingers around Serena’s forearm and furrows her brow.

“She used to get hayfever too,” Serena whispers. It still hurts like hell, thinking about Elinor, still rips her heart from her chest every time she says her name. But if she doesn’t do it, it will never get better.

Bernie trails her fingers down Serena’s arm and links their fingers together, brings their hands up to her face to kiss Serena’s knuckles. Serena smiles down at her sadly and tugs their hands up to return the gesture, then rests them on Bernie’s shoulder. Bernie’s eyes droop again and Serena can’t help the giggle that bubbles up from inside.

“Sleep it off,” she suggests, her fingers moving through Bernie’s hair once again. “I’ll wake you up in a bit.”

Within two minutes, Bernie’s fast asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whyyyyyyy am I incapable of writing long chapters??
> 
> I haven't actually written chapter 4 so idk when it'll be posted, but hopefully I can get it done this week!!


	4. priorities

It’s warm in their hotel room, their stop-off before they head to Nairobi next week, so Bernie opens a window. She wanders back over to where Serena is taking off her jewellery in front of the mirror and slides her arms around her waist, placing a kiss to her bare shoulder. Serena’s been quiet all day and Bernie is torn between asking her what’s wrong and being patient, waiting for Serena to feel ready to broach the subject herself.

“You’re so beautiful,” she murmurs, her nose poking into the hair behind Serena’s ear. She sees the shy smile that appears on Serena’s face in the mirror.

Serena finishes removing her jewellery and turns in Bernie’s arms, her hands finding their place in Bernie’s hair, her eyes full of fondness,

They stay silent for a while, just taking each other in, Serena’s fingers idly stroking through Bernie’s hair and Bernie’s tracing up and down Serena’s spine. Bernie has always loved just having Serena close, holding her, looking at her close up.

She gives in first and leans in to kiss Serena chastely before resting their foreheads together.

“Bernie?” Serena whispers. Bernie pulls back far enough to see uncertainty clouding her eyes and reaches up to where Serena’s hands are gently clasping her hair. She takes them and leads Serena over to the foot of the bed, encouraging Serena to sit down with her.

“Henrik called,” Serena says after a moment, not meeting Bernie’s eyes.

Bernie frowns, a thousand thoughts suddenly popping up in her mind as to what might be the reason.

“He’s taking a leave of absence,” Serena continues quietly, “to deal with…”

Bernie nods, squeezes Serena’s hand.

They hadn’t been together when the news came through, hadn’t been able to comfort each other about losing Raf, about Henrik’s heartbreak at losing his son. Bernie had listened, helpless, as Serena had phoned from France, weeping about how unfair it all was, how she and Henrik losing their only children was fucking unfair, how the hospital had seen too much tragedy recently.

“He…” Serena brings Bernie back to the present and - finally, briefly - glances at her before continuing. “He asked me to go back,” Serena blurts out. “To steady the ship.”

Bernie looks down to their joined hands, where Serena’s restless fingers are fidgeting with her own. It’s unexpected, but Bernie knows that Henrik and Serena share something special, trust each other implicitly, so of course he’s asked her over everyone else.

“Do you want to go?” Bernie asks, unsure.

“I don’t want to leave you,” Serena says immediately. “We’ve only just- We’re going to Nairobi in a couple of days and-”

“Do you want to go?” Bernie cuts her off. Serena looks up at her, her eyes wide and watery.

“I…”

Bernie smiles sadly at the hesitation, knows what her answer is.

“Yes,” Serena breathes, her nostrils flaring as she tries not to cry.

“Then go.”

Serena looks almost shocked, as if she was expecting Bernie to put up more of a fight, then leans in to kiss Bernie, her hand coming up to stroke her cheek.

“It’s only for a few weeks at most,” Serena says once she’s pulled back. “Then I’ll come and join you.” Her fingers tenderly curl some hair behind Bernie’s ear and she rests her hand on Bernie’s shoulder, playing with the soft strands.

“Ok.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one was written + edited in the last 10 hours so it's not the best chapter but i just needed to get it out of the way bc the last chapter is cute ok


	5. for eternity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the wait.... hope it's worth it :)

Serena drags Bernie through the front door and turns to face her. She’s still half-expecting to wake up and find out Bernie’s not actually in her arms.

Coats and bags wordlessly abandoned, they traipse up the stairs, the day finally catching up with them.

When they get to the bedroom, Serena glances at the bed, then looks at Bernie. Her face is soft with a hint of desire, but Serena can see she’s practically dead on her feet, knows from her posture and her tired eyes that she’s exhausted. She feels Bernie squeeze her hand and sways forward to press a gentle kiss against her partner’s lips.

Pulling back, she rests their foreheads together.

“Go and get ready for bed,” she says, nudging Bernie towards the en suite. Bernie pouts and strokes Serena’s waist. “Go on!” Serena bats her hand away. “You’ll be too tired later.”

She sees Bernie register her raised eyebrow and the glint in her eye and gets a firm kiss before Bernie disappears.

While she’s waiting, Serena takes her shoes and socks off and checks her phone. Nothing that can’t wait. She pulls up the pictures of Guinevere she’d taken - there are a lot - and flicks through. It’s only been half an hour or so since she and Bernie left them, but she already misses her… her grandchild. Well, she’s as good as.

As she’s setting a photo of Bernie holding the baby as her background, her partner emerges from the en suite, free of makeup and yawning widely.

“What are you grinning at?” she asks, her voice deep with tiredness.

Serena pushes herself up off the bed and comes to stand in front of Bernie, turning her phone around so she can see. Bernie looks up with a gentle smile and leans into Serena.

“Do you think she looks more like Jason or Greta?” Serena asks.

Bernie glances back at Serena’s phone.

“Too soon to tell, really,” she murmurs. “She’s beautiful, though. Just like her grandmother.”

Serena’s heart constricts and she looks up at Bernie to find the longing and love she knows are reflected in her own eyes. She pushes the phone into Bernie’s hand and strokes her arm.

“I’ll be two minutes.” She gestures to the en suite and, at Bernie’s nod, walks through.

As she’s taking her makeup off, she can hear Bernie yawn a few times. She has to stop herself from peeking around the door every other second to check that Bernie’s still there, check she’s not imagined the whole thing.

When she’s done and cleaned her teeth, she goes back into the bedroom, a wicked, seductive line on the tip of her tongue.

But Bernie’s fast asleep.

Serena feels her chest tighten at the sight. She’s sprawled across the bed - had evidently fallen asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

Biting back a fond, disbelieving laugh, Serena walks over to her. She pulls off Bernie’s boots and socks and places them by the bed. After a moment’s thought, she sets about ridding Bernie of her trousers and, somehow, manages to get them off without too much effort - a skill she had almost perfected in France. She fetches a new pair of socks and puts them on her feet.

“Still got awful circulation,” she murmurs.

She quickly gets changed into her nightie and pulls back the duvet, managing to ease it out from underneath Bernie, and gently shifts her sleeping partner into a more comfortable position. Her hands linger on Bernie’s legs. They’re so soft, so warm, that she can’t help but stroke her fingers down a strong thigh.

Bernie twitches and Serena yanks her hand away, loathe to wake her after the day she’s had. She’s not sure how much sleep Bernie got on the plane, but she’d bet it wasn’t enough.

She gets into bed and pulls the duvet up over them both, rolls onto her side to face Bernie. She looks at her for a moment, feels a huge grin spread across her face. Bringing an arm up to rest on Bernie’s chest, she tangles her fingers in Bernie’s hair, stroking gently through the silky strands.

She drops a kiss to Bernie’s shoulder, heaves a contented sigh and closes her eyes.

There will be plenty of time tomorrow for getting… physically reacquainted. For now, Serena won’t turn down falling asleep cosied up to the woman she loves, the woman who will wait for her.

Even if that woman is dangerously close to snoring.


End file.
